I agree with Bill on this -- I will do everything in my power to avoid flying a U.S. airlines to asia. The asian airlines are just so much better -- service,friendliness, they don't run out of food or water, the bathrooms are cleaned reqularly etc. My absolute favorite is actually Malaysian Air but I find singapore and thai close seconds. And Cathay, Japan etc are still 100% better than United, American, NW, Continental etc. BUT I don't think the difference is that the staff is young or old, gray or not. The difference is in training, culture, expectations and understanding of customer service.

Gloria you are spot on!

Gpanda - I suppose its for the same reason airlines have been making it easy to shuttle people out of the Northeast and West Coast for decades!

Gpanda -

1. Houston has a pretty diverse population, many with ties to South and SW Asia. It is also HQ to many oil-related business, so there are business travelers to middle-east, Africa and Russia.

2. Continental has been focusing its longhaul international expansion from EWR, not IAH; but at the same time, it's a huge domestic hubs. So, passengers still get excellent connections at IAH for other US cities in the South and SW.

3. The availability of the Boeing 777-200LR, which is one of the only two aircrafts that can make the ultra-longhauls to the middle east. The A340-500 has proved to be economical unsuccessful. But the 772LR may be alright.

Having said that, please check out this thread I started last night on the airline forum. None of these new flights provide good connections to SE or E Asia:

fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=126&tid=35113855

And SQ is using a large 777-300ER for this route. I seriously doubt they can attract enough passengers to fill the plane, especially in the back. Well, that's probably why the cheap fares BillT is posting about. Not only is the overall flight time longer than going the other way, but the early departure from SIN means overnight there on the way back.

I think an Airbus 330-200 may work, but a 773ER may not.

Emirates' IAH-DXB may make them money, but I doubt IAH can support two daily non-stops to the Gulf. Qatar likes to do whatever Emirates do, but I'm not positive about that flight either.

Don't forget that two other recent IAH-Asia flights (though one-stop) have failed, from China Airlines and Pakistan International.

And not every route that Singapore tried is necessary successful. They canceled the flight to LAS soon after 9/11, but has yet to resume it. And the J/E+ combination on SIN-EWR/LAX on the 345 also hasn't worked. I wish them well on the new all-J configurations.

rkkwan:
I think Gpanda was poking some fun at Houston with his comment!

Bill - Maybe so! ;)

Bill/Gloria...I agree that the Asian airlines are better, but what the HECK has that got to do with "going gray?". Happy Travels!

Come on Guen – get real- the older Flight attendants don’t seem to have the enthusiasm, the energy, they are at times grumpy- even lazy – they tend to hide in the back at times- rarely anticipate your needs- the young Asian attendants do not have these issues. The Asian airlines don’t employ the gray ones- maybe for these very reasons! Some jobs are just better suited for the younger set – flight attendants may very well be one of those.

For Asian airlines that are unionised you will find the more senior flight attendants in business class and even older ones in first. SQ was the first to break this mold and employed flight attendants of all ages, mostly young, in their premier classes. During the old days the SQ post flight service was quite famous.

any comments on Cathay Pacific? I'm told that their coach seats are very comfortable and more spacious, which will be important for a flight from NYC to BKK.

laurie1414 - Cathay Pacific's JFK-HKG non-stops now use their new 777-300ERs. The coach seats is a new design with a hard shell. So, the person in front won't recline onto you. The seatback mostly slides down and your seat cushion moves forward; but the back doesn't really recline.

I haven't read too many reports or reviews, but the few I've read are mixed or have reservations about comfort.

The one-stop JFK-YVR-HKG uses their 747-400 with either new or old seats.

Bill-As for get real...I am being real. I've experienced great/good/ and bad flight attendants and of all ages. As far as I'm concerned age has nothing to do with it and I feel it's a real put down to those older flight attendants who do a good or great job to suggest that a younger-aged flight attendant is going to give better service. We've fought age-ism, and about every other kind of -ism for long enough in this country and I'm sure that most folks don't want to see the hands of time turned back. Happy Travels!

I'm with Guen 100%. Good service has nothing to do with age. Just as there are great lawyers and teachers in the 60s and 70s as well as in their 30s. There are also some terrible workers on airlines and in every other field in their 20s, 30s, 60s and 70s. Age is irrelevant.

Me poke fun? Perish the thought. I'm sure there's some other reason why airlines are giving good fares FROM Houston. Anyone? Anyone?

Well, Gloria...I guess this "problem" can easily be solved by...say...retiring flight attendants at say...30?...35?...or heaven forbid...40? and then of course providing them with no retirement/health benefits since...well...they wouldn't have been there long enough to receive them. But, then again, they'll still be young enough to go back to school and retrain for another profession and start at the bottom of the pay scale and work their way up...unless that "new" profession also practices age-ism...and when all of these not-so-young-anymore flight attendants have been retired out of the system...then they can just be put out to pasture. Wow, what great service we passengers will receive with a profession that will be short-lived and with a flood of constant new, but "young", trainable people. I'm sure I'm already feeling safer in the air! Happy Travels!

Oh I'm having a lot of fun with this thread! I need to hear from the guys out there- Which do you prefer the gray or the young? Asian or the American?

I am not properly appreciative of service from young females - Asian or Otherwise. But......young males, now that's different.... I much prefer my 'coke and peanuts' from a young male. Do you think we can have a proportionate number of YOUNG male FAs to properly provide service to the female flying passengers??????? After all, women fill a portion (probably half)of those airline seats!!!!

Are you sure you don't want the gray, elderly type males- you know they have a lot of experience?

This is a fun thread. We enjoyed our first experience with Singapore Air on our recent trip to Sri Lanka. Here's my take on the age thing - the Singapore female flight attendants are literally poured into their "uniforms". I do not think this would be flattering to an older woman. For that reason I recommend that they stick with their current strategy. I would agree that United flight attendants for example, are older. But most do a very good job for what they do under trying circumstances and decidedly different corporate objectives and cultures.

That being said, ageism exists everywhere - the arts, sports, restaurants, broadcasting - you name it. As it happens many are most creative when they are young and more willing to take risks. I happen to be in a field (investment advice) where reverse ageism has become the rule, where experience really counts for something. In politics, especially at the higher levels, reverse ageism is also omni present.

Lets continue the fun...now just imagine a beauty consultant for Loreal that is old and gray and wrinkled selling anti-ageing cream- see the problem!

The moral of the story- some jobs below to the young!